


Perseverance

by Zeta_Mei



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: All mistakes are mine, F/M, Fluff without Plot, I had to write this, No Plot/Plotless, Perseverance reached Mars!, barely edited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 23:21:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29617011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeta_Mei/pseuds/Zeta_Mei
Summary: All Jaime needs is perseverance. And Brienne.Dedicated to all Martians on Earth.     Dare mighty things.
Relationships: Jaime Lannister & Brienne of Tarth, Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Comments: 14
Kudos: 58





	Perseverance

Seven years of researches and crazy work, seven months of travel, seven minutes of apnea till the rover Perseverance has touched Mars, and, now, seven seconds of sounds - the song of the Red Planet, for the first time in the history heard on the Blue Planet, and Jaime's happy, happy and drunk of Brienne's light.

She has turned towards him, and she's beaming, she's literally _glowing,_ her freckles like stardust, her blush like the explosion of a supernova, and, no matter how unusually dark and deep are the circles under them, her eyes are the shining proof that life deserves to be lived.

Even at forty-seven. Even if until forty you've wasted all your time in things with no importance.

A bit light-headed for the thrill and for the tiredness already crawling up his spine, Jaime accepts the drink his assistant Peck is lending him, but waits until she takes the first sip to drink, only then he drinks, raising a silent toast to her cleverness, to her stubborness, to her never yielding sincerity. It's all Brienne's merit, if they can hear Mars so clearly and it's all her merit if Jaime feels finally alive.

Later, when the crowd will disperse, he'll tell her, and maybe, with a bit of luck, with a bit of perseverance, she'll say yes.

It's just a little word, compared to the universe.

Yes.

  
  


“ _Ingenuity,” she proposes, stealing a glance at Jaime._

“ _Perseverance”, he immediately replies, and the blush on her cheeks is soft, this time, a timid nuance of pink, as if she has understood what he means, why he wants the mission be remembered with that name. All the fights they made and make – she had entered in the staff with six feet of youth, tension and pure gold neurons, but at very beginning Jaime hadn't understood how she was good, passionate and self-less. Brienne argues, and often, too often, with him, but not to threaten his leadership in the systems engineer team or find out one of his many flaws, she's too honest for that, almost innocent in world which needs to seek innocence on other planets - her questions, her frowns, her silences becoming soon the best thermometer of the health of Jaime's own work._

“ _Perseverance, yes” Brienne nods, her fingers, strong and stained with the ink of a stupid printer, playing nervously with the hem of the white coat she's wearing, and he has to look away because he'd like to tear her coat off and lick the ink stains on her flesh, but later, later he'll tell her, he thinks. Later, the others simply welcome the name, the big ones approve, the press goes mad with it. And with the name Ingenuity, which finally is chosen for the small drone helicopter that will make the first powered flight on any planet beyond the Earth. He tells Brienne, about both names, the interviews, the memes and so on, and Brienne looks at him as if he were a Martian. When the blue is so blue your voice drop to a murmur and so Jaime's voice does, it drops to a murmur and he doesn't tell her what he really wants to say._

_Later. He'll tell her, later._

  
  


It takes a lot, but finally he finds her and relief washes over him. Brienne's not gone, accepting the car passage Prof. Hunt has offered her - she has simply fallen asleep on the infamous couch in the infamous supply closet, where the young ones like Pod and Shireen end for a friendly exchange of, ehm, opinions, from time to time. Jaime finds himself staring at her, saving every detail for the moment he'll be back home, to the half-castle full of stuff he calls home, where the sheets are always cold at night and the mornings are even worst. So empty. Without her.

He should tell her, wake her up and tell her.

“Brienne”, he tries, and her lashes flutter, but only for an instant. She must be really weary, she hasn't sleep in the last two days, he knows it, because he was with her, in every feverish moment leading to the touchdown. He's exhausted, too. Jaime really should wake her up so that they can get a taxi and go home together.

“Brienne.” She doesn't wake, not even when he bents over her, and puts a hand on her head. Her hair is soft, there are a few tangles but Jaime's fingers work them gently, and he can lend her a honey&oat conditioner which would be perfect. At home, not here. He's so tired, he needs home, he needs her at home with him. A bath, together, at noon because they need a long sleep and he wants to make love with her, as soon as the morning invades the bedroom and she squints at the sun.

“Brienne”, he begs, far too soft. He wants her to hear him and, incoherently, he wants her to go on dreaming, because she's so beautiful when she's not worrying about the way the others may look at her.

“Brienne,” he whispers or maybe he just thinks to have whispered it. It doesn't really matter.

“Brienne, Brienne, Brienne, Brienne.” It's not simply a name on his lips or on his heart, it's a declaration of love. It means: " _Come home with me. We touched Mars, and it's great, but now I'm tired and the only thing I want is you. Say yes.”_

“Yes, Jaime? Yes, to what?” Her voice is so drowsy and soft that probably he's only imagining it.

“To me, Brienne. I wanna sleep with you.”

Her eyelids stay close. “You must be exhausted, you too. Poor Jaime.” She sighs and pulls out a hand, fingers kissing the void, tentative, blind, until they meet his chest. A caress worth of heaven. He's on his knees, he realizes, and his knees are deadly sore. “Come here, there's enough space.” Her hand drags him to her, as if he were a puppet and maybe Jaime has become a puppet, he's brainless and his legs are wobbly and a grin is painted on his face, as her arms embrace him, keeping him from falling from the misshapen couch. He's safe, warm and her smell is good enough to conceal the stink of the worn leather.

“Brienne.”

“Mmm.” She adjusts her body on his, one leg wrapping his thigh and he may even cry, for he's too worn and she's too good.

“Iloveyoubrienne.”

“Mmm.”

 _Mmm. It's not so far from a yes_ , Jaime decides, burrowing his nose in one small cove sweetening her neck. It's so soft, there, the skin. And he has told her, finally. The gates are open, Mars is conquered and it seems the heaven and since the universe loves him, he can find the strengtht to tell her again. On the morrow, as soon as she wakes up.

Or later. The mission will take other seven hundreds days, more or less. He'll tell her, more properly. Flowers will help, but love-in-a-mist not roses, 'cause his Brienne is not fond of roses.

He'll tell her and she'll say yes. With a bit of luck, with a bit of perseverance.


End file.
